Chocolate Truffles and Rum Balls

Here are a few pics from my chocolate endeavors. At the top are an assortment of rum balls (the ones with the jimmies), molded chocolate truffles and hand dipped truffles. The second picture is a commission I did. All the truffles are made using molds and the fillings are either white, dark, or mint chocolate ganache. The third picture is a bowl of dark chocolate ganache as I was scooping it out and rolling it into balls. And the fourth picture shows the different ganache fillings waiting to be dipped in tempered chocolate.

It was the last Treat of the Week at DD and I thought August's work office might like a little rum in their chocolates to kick off the holiday season.   I mixed in a few tablespoons of rum into a batch of ganache. Then I stirred in some chocolate cake crumbs (they were in the freezer leftover from the cake pops), rolled them into balls and rolled them in jimmies of all colors.

Classic Cookies for Santa- Gingerbread Men

This year's gingerbread men are short and squat compared to the ones from last year. I also added some white and butterscotch chip buttons. The boys had a lot of fun cutting them out and decorating them with icing.

Gingerbread Men

Makes 30 cookies

Inspired by Eileen's Spicy Gingerbread Men 

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup molasses

1 egg yolk

2 cups sifted all purpose flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground cloves

1/2 tsp. powdered ginger

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

1. In a large bowl or stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in molasses and egg yolk.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and spices.

3. Add flour mixture to butter mixture and mix until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for one hour.

4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Flour a work surface and rolling pin. Roll dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out shapes with cookie cutters. Place on cookie sheet 2 inches apart.

5. Bake for 10-15 minutes until firm. Cool on wire rack. Decorate with icing when cool. For icing recipe see sugar cookie post.

Classic Cookies for Santa- Snowballs

Do not wear black while you are eating these cookies...or making them. I make
snowball cookies (a.k.a. Russian Tea Cakes) every year because they are so easy and delicious. They require very few ingredients and are buttery, sweet and nutty. My mom used to make these.

Snowballs

Makes 36

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla extract (or 1/2 tsp. vanilla and 1/2 tsp. almond extract)

6 Tbsp. confectioners' sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup finely chopped walnuts

1/3 cup confectioners' sugar for rolling

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. Whisk together confectioners' sugar, salt and flour in a medium bowl. Cream butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl.  Stir flour mixture into butter mixture. Mix in walnuts. Roll dough into 1 inch balls. Place on cookie sheet 2 inches apart.

3. Bake for 12 minutes until bottoms are light brown. Cool on cookie sheet for a few minutes. Transfer to wire rack. When cool, roll in confectioners' sugar twice till snowy white.

Classic Cookies for Santa- Mint Chocolate Chip

The search goes on for the perfect chocolate chip cookie. One day I'll try out the original Best Chocolate Chip Cookie as posted in the New York Times,  just as Jacques Torres wrote it. But this season I added mint chocolate chips and 70% dark chocolate Lindt bars instead of Valrhona feves or chocolate disks. I also did not make my cookies 5 inches big as they would not fit into gift tins very nicely. They were however tasty and addictive. 

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

24 cookies

Inspired by Chocolate Chip Cookies adapted from Jacques Torres

2 cups minus 2 Tbsp. (8 1/2 oz.) cake flour

1 2/3 (8 1/2 oz.) bread flour

1 1/4 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp. coarse salt

2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter

1 1/4 cup (10 oz.) light brown sugar

1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. (8 oz.) granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 tsp. vanilla extract

8 oz. dark chocolate, chopped

6 oz. mint chocolate chips

sea salt

1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. If you don't have cake flour, for every cup of flour called for, substitute 2 Tbsp. cornstarch for 2 Tbsp. flour.

2. In stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, scraping down after each addition. Stir in vanilla. Stir in dry ingredients just until combined. Gently mix in chocolate chips and dark chocolate. Wrap dough in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 24-36 hours, up until 72 hours.

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop dough into a heaping tablespoon. Sprinkle with sea salt. Bake 18-20 minutes until golden brown. Cool on baking sheet a few minutes then transfer cookies to a wire rack.

Classic Cookies for Santa- Sugar Cookies

Five classic cookies grace our plate of cookies for Santa this year. The sugar cookies we make practically every year as they remind me of the cookies my mom used to bake with us when we were kids. She gave me her collection of cookie cutters which I love especially for their nostalgia. The snowballs I also make every year because they are so easy and yummy. The gingerbread men, I tried last year and found fun to make. The snickerdoodle (recipe found in an earlier post) and mint chocolate chip were new to my list of recipes but turned out pretty tasty.

Sugar Cookies

Makes 30

Inspired by The Best Rolled Sugar Cookies

3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/2 cups sugar (lessen if you are decorating with icing)

2 eggs, room temperature

3/4 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. almond extract

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

In a large bowl or stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla and eggs, scraping down bowl after each addition. Stir in flour, baking soda, and salt. Divide dough in half and wrap each in  plastic wrap and chill one hour or overnight.

Flour work surface and rolling pin. Set aside some toothpicks and a shallow bowl with flour in it. Cover cookie sheets with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Roll dough on work surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Dip cookie cutters into bowl of flour and shake off. Cut out the shapes from the dough. If dough gets stuck in the cookie cutters, shake gently to release or use the toothpick to lift a corner out. Toothpicks also come in handy for digging out the dough that gets stuck in the cutter details. Place cookies on sheet 1 inch apart. Add sprinkles, jimmies or sanding sugar or leave plain if icing.

Bake for 6 to 8 minutes or until light brown. Watch the cookies because the tips burn easily (i.e star on top of a tree cookie) .



Sugar Cookie Icing

Inspired by All Recipes

1 cup confectioners' sugar

2 tsp. milk

2 tsp. light corn syrup

1/4 tsp. almond extract

food coloring paste

Mix confectioners' sugar and milk in a bowl until smooth. Add corn syrup and almond extract. Mix until smooth and glossy. Add more corn syrup if icing is too thick. Divide into small bowls or ramekins. Tint with food coloring paste. Be careful as a little food coloring goes a long way. Pipe, dip or paint icing onto cookies.

Chocolate Sprinkle Cake Pops

These chocolate cake pops were easy and fun to make. I had acquired quite the collection of sprinkles and was waiting for just this moment to use them. For a brief minute I considered using box cake mix and premade frosting but decided to go with homemade for both since baking is what I do. But if you are pressed for time or money or have limited baking skills, I suggest using the premade version. Cake pops can be made ahead of time and individually wrapped in little clear bags. For these I used chocolate cake and chocolate frosting for the inside. The outside I used white and mint chocolate candy melts.

Chocolate Sprinkle Cake Pops
Makes 48

Inspired by Bakerella

Chocolate Cake

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup cocoa powder (unsweetened)

1 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

2 cups granulated sugar

3 eggs, room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups milk, room temperature


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 9 x 13 inch pan.

2. Whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl.

3. Place butter and sugar into a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment and cream until light and fluffy.  Mix in eggs one at a time, scraping the bowl down with a rubber spatula after each addition. Add vanilla and blend.

4. Alternate adding flour mixture and milk a little at a time.

5. Spread the batter into the pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely. If only making half or a quarter of the recipe, wrap remaining cooled cake in foil and place in a freezer bag. The cake you will use can stay covered with foil at room temperature for a day or two if you want to bake one day and dip in candy the next day.


Chocolate Frosting

3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup cocoa powder  (unsweetened)

1-2 tsp. milk (to add creaminess)

Cream the butter in a stand mixer with paddle attachment. Add in vanilla and blend. Add the powdered sugar in three batches and scrape down sides after each addition. Add the cocoa powder and mix. Add the milk and mix.

Making the Cake Pops:

48 Lollipop sticks

48 Cellophane bag with twist ties or ribbon

Sprinkles or Jimmies

Styrofoam block or colander turned upside down that sticks can fit in

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Crumble the cooled cake over a bowl with your hands until no larger pieces are left. Mix in frosting. Roll into 1 1/2" balls and place on parchment paper. Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours until firm.

Melt candy melts in the microwave in a heatproof  deep bowl at 50% power for 15 seconds at a time. Heat and stir until candy is melted. Make sure that the coating is deep to cover the pops. Set aside.

Remove 6 cake balls from the fridge at a time. Dip the end of the lollipop stick into the melted candy. Push into the center of the cake ball. Place on baking sheet. Once 6 sticks are dipped, place into the freezer for a few minutes to set. Remove cake pops from freezer and dip into melted candy coating. Dip and roll at a diagonal angle. Use a finger to wipe the excess drips near the stick. If you are using sprinkles, sprinkle them on quickly before the candy sets. Place into a styrofoam block to dry. Once it is dry you may use the leftover candy melts as glue to stick on decorations or to pipe additional details. Store in an airtight container or in individual cellophane bags.

Mini Peanut Butter Cups

I was never a fan of peanut butter cups until I had these. They are made with natural peanut butter, toasted almonds and dark chocolate. A coworker of August requested these for the holidays. I found out they are really easy to make and don't require any baking.

Mini Peanut Butter Cups

Makes 12

Inspired by food.com

3/4 cup icing sugar

1/4 cup unsalted butter

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup natural peanut butter (well mixed)

6 oz. semisweet chocolate chips or dark chocolate, chopped

1/4 cup toasted almonds, chopped

Line mini muffin tins with paper liners. In a medium bowl, cream together butter and peanut butter. Add graham cracker crumbs and icing sugar in small quantities and mix. Spoon mixture into paper liners. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in a small heatproof dish over a saucepan with 1 inch of simmering water. Stir until melted and smooth. Spoon over peanut butter mixture. Sprinkle with toasted almonds. Refrigerate for a few hours to set.

Pistachio and Candy Cane Macarons

I received orders for pistachio macarons and candy cane macarons both flavors I've never made before. Macarons are very finicky when it comes to turning out right. The aging of the egg whites (which some people say is a myth), perfect batter consistency (not too firm but not too runny), the shells delicate but not broken, and smooth with feet at the bottom. The first batch of pistachio ones I made turned out more like meringue cookies. This was because I didn't smash the air out of the batter during the macronage mixing faze. Had I mixed it further, the batter would have flowed instead of peaked.

The shells for the candy cane ones were really sticky and were a pain to get off of the parchment paper. I believe this was due to a lower sugar content in the batter. I finally got them off with a knife greased with butter and a lot of patience. My macarons have turned out when aging the egg whites 3-5 days in the refrigerator, 1-2 days on the counter top or microwaved for 10 seconds.

 I've posted the recipe for the pistachio macarons here. If you want to make the candy cane ones, substitute extra almond meal for ground pistachios in the batter. For the buttercream, mix in a few drops of peppermint extract. Omit ground pistachios. Mix in or roll sides of macarons in crushed candy cane pieces. I double bagged candy canes in ziplock bags and hit them with a meat mallet. Food processing tends to make them more sticky and not as pretty.

Pistachio Macarons

Makes 30

Inspired by The Extraordinary Art of Cake

160 g  icing sugar

100 g  almond meal

60 g  ground pistachios

4 egg whites, separated into two batches, aged

160 g caster sugar

green food coloring paste


Pistachio French Buttercream

100 g unsalted butter, room temperature

3 Tbsp. water

3 Tbsp. caster sugar (or vanilla sugar)

1 egg

50 g ground pistachios


1. Trace 1 1/2" circles two inches apart on two sheets of parchment paper. Turn the paper over and use it to line baking sheets.

2. Sift icing sugar, almond meal and ground pistachios into a large bowl.  Mix in the first batch of egg whites and food coloring until a paste forms. The mixture can be a little darker as it will lighten once the rest of the ingredients are mixed in.

3. Put the second batch of egg whites into a heatproof bowl. I like to use my stand mixer bowl. Place 50 ml of water and caster sugar into a small saucepan. Heat on medium heat until it reaches 230 degrees F. Beat the egg whites on high speed using a stand or electric mixer. Once the syrup has reached 244 degrees F, pour it in a thin stream into the heatproof bowl  of egg whites and whisk on high until the mixture is slightly warm, peaked and shiny.

4. Fold the meringue and the almond mixture together. Scrape batter from the sides of the bowl and smash it with the rubber scraper. Do this about 40-50 times until a thick ribbon falls off the spatula and disappears back into the batter within 30 seconds. If it doesn't, fold it a few more times.

5. Heat oven to 320 degrees F. Fit a piping bag with a plain tip and fill with batter. Pipe onto prepared baking sheets. Bang the sheets on the counter to release air bubbles. Rest 30 minutes to 1 hour on counter top until a skin forms. Bake 12-14 minutes. Cool on parchment then peel gently off the paper. Pair up shells. Store in airtight container at room temperature if not using right away.

6. To make the buttercream, beat the butter until soft using an electric mixer in small bowl. Place the egg in a stand mixer bowl fitted with a whisk attachment. Heat water and sugar in saucepan over medium heat. Start beating the egg with the stand mixer. Continue heating the syrup till it reaches the soft ball stage (235- 245 degrees F). Pour in a thin stream egg. Beat until mixture is white and heavy. Add the butter in three parts, beating after each addition. Beat at high speed until mixture is creamy. If it looks curdled, continue to beat it. Add ground pistachios and mix.

7. Pipe pistachio French buttercream onto flat sides of macarons and sandwich together. Refrigerate in airtight container if not eating right away.

Dickerdoodles (I mean Snickerdoodles)

August has joked for the past few years that I should enter the Penny Arcade dickerdoodles competition where cookies are magically transformed into phallic art. With the boys love of the Legend of Zelda, it inspired me to create, "The penis mightier than the sword". It's a play on "The pen is mightier than the sword," for those of you who didn't get the humor.

I soon found out that my snickerdoodle dough spread out so much when I baked it that I had to cut it to shape. Here is a picture of a normal snickerdoodle, a cookie sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. After rolling the dough into balls and placing on a baking sheet, it spreads into a flat disc. Next year if I enter the contest again, I may just use plain old sugar cookie dough made for cookie cutters.
And yes, I did use toasted shredded coconut for some details.

The results are in and though I didn't win the Dickerdoodles competition this year, my "Penis Mightier Than the Sword" was posted on the penny arcade site. Click here for the link.

Dickerdoodles (I mean Snickerdoodles)

Makes 20 round cookies

Inspired by Gale Gand

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 Tbsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/8 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1/2 Tbsp. light corn syrup

1 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

Topping: 1 1/2 Tbsp. sugar and 1/4 tsp. cinnamon


 1. In a medium bowl mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside. In a large bowl or mixer bowl with paddle attachment, cream butter. Mix in sugar, egg, corn syrup and vanilla. Mix in dry ingredients just until blended. Chill dough 1 hour.

2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

3. Mix sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl. Remove dough from fridge. Roll into 2 inch balls. Roll in cinnamon sugar to coat. Place on baking sheet 2 1/2 inches apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes until slightly cracked and puffy. Cool on sheet pan for a few minutes before removing to wire rack to cool.

Hawaiian Mini Muffins

In late November the boys said goodbye to their classmates by bringing in these Hawaiian Mini Muffins. The flavors of the islands, pineapple and coconut were shared amongst the kindergarteners and preschoolers. We couldn't wait for our Hawaiian vacation, visiting with family, celebrating Christmas, and going to the beach in winter.

Hawaiian Mini Muffins
Makes 24 mini muffins

Inspired by Smitten Kitchen


1/2 cup coconut oil plus additional for greasing
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup coconut flavored Greek-style yogurt, at room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup fresh pineapple, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut, divided


Preheat oven to 375°F. Line mini muffin pans with paper liners or grease with coconut oil.
In a small saucepan, warm your coconut oil until just melted.
Whisk flours, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Stir in 1/2 cup shredded coconut. In a medium bowl, whisk together egg, sugar, coconut oil, coconut yogurt and vanilla. Mix in pineapple pieces. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients until just combined. Divide batter among prepared muffin cups then sprinkle the top with remaining 1/4 cup coconut.
Bake for 8-12 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. Remove muffins from pans and cool on wire rack.

Gingerbread Houses

 The early stages of construction

Construction almost complete

Decorators are waiting

Placing the decorations on

 Every detail in place

 Finished!

Can we eat it yet?

Yum!

The kids and cousins requested gingerbread houses for a baking activity. We found a recipe from Food Network. It was really fun to make and the kids were eating it all week. For decorations we used pretzels, M&Ms, gummy bears, chocolate filled cookies, raisins, mini candy canes, Cheerios, and pretzel bites. For icing I didn't want to use raw egg whites and meringue powder was out of stock so I just bought the premade one. We ran out of piping bags so we just used ziplock bags and cut the corner off. Beware that the sandwich bags can burst if you squeeze too hard. The freezer bags work better. If the icing is too thick, it will stick to your fingers better than the gingerbread, add some water to thin it so it flows better. 

Christmas Scones

I made these in Hawaii for family and friends. Since we were so busy, I mixed up a batch, put them on a baking sheet covered with plastic wrap and froze them in the freezer for a few hours. Then I removed them from the baking sheet and put them into a freezer bag. When we finally had a calm morning at home, I defrosted them for 15 minutes on a baking sheet, egg washed them and then baked them for 20 minutes. I call them Christmas scones because they have so many ingredients in them, much like our Christmas tree which is small but has enough lights and ornaments for a 7 foot tree.


Christmas Scones

4 cups all purpose flour

1 cup granulated sugar

4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate morsels

1/2 cup mini white chocolate chips

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1 Tbsp. orange zest

1 cup unsalted butter room temperature cut into small pieces

1 cup buttermilk

3 large eggs, divided

1 1/2 Tbsp. orange juice

glaze (optional) 2 Tbsp. confectioner's sugar, 1 Tbsp. orange zest, 1/4 cup orange juice

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda. Cut in butter using a pastry cutter or two forks until it is a coarse meal. In a small bowl, mix together buttermilk, 2 eggs, and orange juice. Add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture. Stir just until combined. Mix in chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, walnuts, cranberries and orange zest.

3. Whisk remaining egg with 1 Tbsp. water in a small dish. Set aside. Drop 1/4 cup balls of dough onto the prepared baking sheets spacing them 2 inches apart. Flatten slightly. Brush with egg wash. Bake for 18-22 minutes until golden brown. Cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring scones to a wire rack. In a small dish, mix together confectioner's sugar, orange zest and orange juice to make a glaze. When scones are cool, drizzle with glaze.

Pumpkin Tartlets

After making the pumpkin cheesecake bites, I had a lot of leftover pumpkin filling and cream cheese filling. I mixed them together to make pumpkin tartlets. This was our dessert after dinner on Thanksgiving. It has a chocolate short dough crust, a pumpkin cheesecake filling, and a chantilly cream sprinkled with cinnamon.

One problem I encountered was that the short dough was too crumbly to work with. I think it may have been because I substituted 1 Tbsp. cornstarch for flour instead of 2.  I added ice water like you would with pie crust dough. It was still too hard to roll out so I just pressed it into the tartlet pans. The crust did turn out tasty though. It had a chewier layer on top where it met the filling and a crumbly cookie layer on the bottom. 

Pumpkin Tartlets- Makes 4 Tartlets (5 " in diameter)

Chocolate Short Dough 
Inspired by Baking At Home With The Culinary Institute of America

-8 Tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature

-1/4 cup sugar

-1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

-1 egg yolk

-1 1/3 cups cake flour (if using all purpose, substitute 2 Tbsp. flour with 2 Tbsp. cornstarch)

-3 Tbsp. cocoa powder

1. Cream butter, sugar and vanilla in a bowl on medium speed of stand mixer using paddle attachment.  Add in egg yolk and mix just until blended. In a small bowl, sift together flour and cocoa powder. Add flour mixture to butter mixture and mix on low speed just until blended. Mixture should be crumbly. Add a little ice water until it forms a dough. Press together into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 20 minutes until cold. 

2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray tartlet pans with non-stick spray. Roll out dough on floured surface two inches larger than the pan. Lift and position dough into pan and trim off the overhang by rolling it with a rolling pin.


Pumpkin Cheesecake Filling

Inspired by Hoopfinity's Happenings

-1 can pumpkin pie mix (15 oz. already sweetened and spiced) or make your own- see pumpkin cheesecake bites recipe

-1/3 cup evaporated milk

-1 egg (room temperature)

- 1 block cream cheese (8 oz.), softened

-1/2 cup sugar

-2 egg whites, room temperature

-1 tsp. vanilla extract

- 1 Tbsp. all purpose flour

1. In a medium bowl, with an electric mixer, combine pumpkin pie filling, evaporated milk and egg until smooth and creamy. In a large bowl blend cream cheese, sugar, egg whites and vanilla with an electric mixer. Gently fold the pumpkin mixture into the cheesecake mixture.

2. Spoon  pumpkin cheesecake batter onto chocolate short dough. Bake in 375 degree F preheated oven for 30 minutes or until filling and crust are set. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Chantilly Cream

Inspired by Baking at Home with the Culinary Institute of America

- 1/2 cup heavy cream, chilled

-1/8 cup confectioner's sugar

-1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

- cinnamon (optional)

1. Chill a mixing bowl and beaters.

2. Using an electric mixer or stand mixer with whisk attachment, whisk heavy cream until medium peaks form. Add confectioner's sugar and vanilla and whisk until stiff peaks form.  Scoop the cream into a piping bag fitted with a large star tip. Pipe onto cooled pumpkin cheesecake tartlets. Sprinkle with cinnamon.

Pumpkin Oreo Cheesecake Bites

 I've wanted to make pumpkin oreo cheesecake bites for about a month. Slowly I gathered the ingredients, a box of Oreos here, a bag of sugar there, a can of pumpkin leftover from Halloween. The recipe caught my eye because of all the pretty layers. With Thanksgiving coming up this week, I thought it would be the perfect time to make it.

While baking these cheesecake bites, I ended up with a lot of leftover pumpkin layer and cheesecake layer batter. When I typed the recipe out, I halved the original recipe. I found out that unmolding cheesecakes from mini muffin tins are a pain. I will use liners next time. However, making them in the mini cheesecake pans with removable bottoms, they pop out nicely. Watch out it doesn't go flying! The original recipe called for canned pumpkin pie mix. I like to make my own. If you want to buy it premade where the sugar, salt and spices are already in there, that works fine too.

Surprisingly I found that the Oreos are quite time consuming. First you have to scrape out all the fillings and then process the cookies. I only have a mini food processor. That is probably why it took so long since I had to process it in five batches. Perhaps I should ask Santa this year for a regular size food processor like the kind they use on Iron Chef America, Top Chef and Chopped. After processing, I sifted it just to be sure I wasn't leaving any big cookie chunks in there.


Pumpkin Oreo Cheesecake Bites
Inspired by Hoopfinity's Happenings

Makes 24 bites

Oreo Cookie Crust

1 bag Oreo cookies, fillings removed

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted (113 g)

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

2 1/2 tsp. instant coffee

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line mini muffin tins with paper liners or spray mini cheesecake tin ( 12 with removable bottoms) with non-stick cooking spray.

2. Process Oreo cookies and instant coffee into a fine powder. Mix in melted butter and chocolate chips.

3. Press the Oreo mixture into mini cheesecake tin or mini muffin pan.

Pumpkin Pie Layer

1 can (15 oz.) pureed pumpkin (100% pumpkin)

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1/3 cup evaporated milk

1 egg, room temperature

1. In a large bowl mix pumpkin, sugar, salt and spices together. Using an electric mixer, beat in evaporated milk and egg until smooth and creamy.

2. Pour filling onto Oreo crust. Tap pan on counter so the filling evens out.

Note: If mixing your own pumpkin pie spice, combine 2 Tbsp. cinnamon, 2 Tbsp. nutmeg, 2 tsp. ground ginger, 1 1/2 tsp. allspice. Then measure the correct amount out.

Cheesecake Layer

1 brick of cream cheese (8 oz.)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 egg whites, room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla

1 Tbsp. all purpose flour

1. In a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat cream cheese, sugar, egg whites, vanilla and flour together until smooth and creamy.

2. Pour cheesecake mixture over the pumpkin layer in cheesecake tin. Tap the pan on the counter to remove air bubbles.

3. Place cheesecake bites in preheated oven. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until they are set.

4. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack. Refrigerate cheesecakes in the pans for at least 2 hours.

5. Unmold cheesecake bites.

Caramel Sauce

Recipe inspired by the book Baked- New Frontiers in Baking

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup glucose

3/4 cup heavy cream

1 tsp. vanilla extract

pinch of salt

Stir brown sugar, 1/2 cup water and glucose together in medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to medium high and cook until it boils. Boil for 10 minutes. (If caramel starts to smoke, remove the saucepan from burner and turn the heat down.) Remove from heat. Slowly whisk in the heavy cream. Return pan to low heat and whisk until clumps dissolve. Whisk in vanilla when caramel is smooth. It is then ready to use. If storing, cool to room temperature and store in an airtight container in fridge up to 5 day.

Apple Oatmeal Muffins

 Easy, healthy, hearty muffins are packable and freezable. I like to make my muffins the night before and leave them on the counter for the kids to have for breakfast the next morning. If you want more spice in your muffin, try adding some nutmeg, allspice, cloves or ground ginger.

Apple Oatmeal Muffins

Makes 12

1 1/2 cups oats

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup all purpose flour

3/4 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. baking soda

3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/2 cup soy milk

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

3 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1 egg white

1/2 cup chopped apple

caramel sauce (optional- for recipe see Pumpkin Oreo Cheesecake Bites post)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tins with paper liners or grease and flour muffin pan.

2. Whisk oats, flours, cinnamon, baking powder, and baking soda in a medium bowl.

3. Mix together applesauce, soy milk, brown sugar, vegetable oil, and egg white in a large bowl.

4. Combine dry ingredients and wet ingredients just until moistened. Fold in apples.

5. Fill muffin tins. Bake for 20 minutes in preheated oven.

6. Remove from oven. Cool on wire rack. Drizzle with caramel sauce. Store in airtight container.

Pear Spice Butterscotch Chip Scuffins

What are scuffins? They are a cross between a scone and a muffin. They are more moist than a scone but still can be cut out using a biscuit cutter and hold their shape. I wanted to keep with the flavors of fall but try something other than pumpkin and apple for a change. I used red anjou pears, spices (cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, black pepper), and butterscotch chips.

Pear Spice Butterscotch Chip Scuffins
Inspired by Pastry Affair
Makes about 25 mini scuffins

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (85 grams) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
3 large ripe anjou pears, peeled and diced
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup heavy cream + a little extra if you want it more moist
1 cup butterscotch chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients - flour, sugar, baking powder, spices, and salt.

3. Cut butter into the flour mixture using a pastry cutter or two knives till it is the texture of coarse sand.

4. Stir in diced pears.

5. In a small bowl, beat together egg, vanilla and heavy cream.

6. Mix wet and dry ingredients together just until combined. The dough should be sticky. If it appears too dry, add in a little more heavy cream. It will be more tender and muffin-like in texture. If you want it firmer and more scone-like don't add any extra cream. Stir in butterscotch chips.

7. Turn dough out onto floured surface. Pat into a circle 1" thick. Use a 2" biscuit cutter to cut out rounds. Place on baking sheet. Press together the remaining dough and cut out more until the dough is gone.

8. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes. Remove to wire rack to cool completely or serve warm. Store in an airtight container.

Mini Chocolate Chip Cookie Sandwiches

I was in search of the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. Unfortunately according to the NY Times recipe, the dough must refrigerate for a minimum of 24 hours. 24 hours which I didn't have this week as it was already nine o'clock on election night and I was baking while watching the polls and speeches. I came upon recipes for cookies with sprinkles, macarons, chocolate cookies or chocolate chip cookies. I was torn and decided to combine them all into a mini size cookie sandwich.

Mini Chocolate Chip Sandwich Cookies

  72 mini chocolate chip cookies, cooled
  1 batch of chocolate buttercream frosting
  assorted sprinkles

 To assemble, scoop frosting into a piping bag fitted with a star tip. Pipe frosting onto bottom of a cookie. Cover frosting with another cookie to form a sandwich. Roll or sprinkle sides of cookie sandwich with nonpareils or  jimmies. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for a few days or refrigerate if storing longer. 


Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies

Recipe inspired by Sally's Baking Addiction

Makes 72 mini cookies

    3/4 cup (171 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
    3/4 cup dark brown sugar
    1/4 cup granulated sugar
    1 egg, at room temperature
    2 tsp vanilla extract
    2 cups all-purpose flour
    2 tsp cornstarch
    1 tsp baking soda
    1/2 tsp salt
    1  1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips




Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Mix together butter and sugars using a stand mixer with paddle attachment until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg until well incorporated. Scrape down bowl. Beat in the vanilla extract. In another bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. Blend dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Scrape down bowl and mix again. Fold in chocolate chips. Using a melon baller scoop dough and roll into a ball with hands. Place on cookie sheet. 36 can fit one one sheet. Bake for 7-10 minutes until cookies seem set. Remove from oven and cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes. Remove cookies from baking sheet with a spatula and cool on wire rack.



Dark Chocolate Buttercream

  1/2 cup unsalted butter
  1 cup powdered sugar
  3/4 cup dark cocoa powder (sifted)
  2 Tbs milk

Beat ingredients in a stand mixer with paddle attachment until light and fluffy. If it's too thick, add more milk until it is thin enough to be piped yet thick enough to hold it's shape.

Baked Pears

For the harvest potluck, Sage chose pears as his main ingredient. I wanted to make something generally healthy since the kids would probably be eating lots of sweets for Halloween. The boys ate these up.

Baked Pears

1/8 cup all-purpose flour (about 1 ounce)
1/8 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 tablespoon honey
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
3 Anjou pears, peeled and cut in half lengthwise
1/3 cup apple juice




Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Mix flour, brown sugar, melted butter, honey, salt, and spices in a small bowl. Peel and cut pears. Use a melon baller to scoop out the core of each pear halve. Fill the holes with brown sugar mixture. Place the pear halves in an 8x8 baking dish. Pour apple juice into the baking dish. Cover tightly with foil. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 5 minutes. Spoon apple juice from baking pan onto pears. Serve warm.

Mummy and Ghost Cake Pops

I've been wanting to make these Halloween cake pops for all the kids and teachers at the boys' school for months. Every week I'd be at Michael's Arts and Crafts buying supplies to make them. A new store just opened up on Alberni and Burrard. I used the recipe from Bakerella. The cake was a little dry in my opinion though it was going to mixed with frosting anyway so it didn't matter. You can use a box cake mix and ready made frosting if you wish. It makes things easier. Or you can use your own favorite cake and frosting recipes.

Yellow Cake

3 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature (226 g.)

2 cups granulated sugar

4 eggs at room temperature

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup whole milk at room temperature

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.

2. Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.

3. In a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar together for 5 minutes until light and creamy.

4. Add eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition. Add vanilla and mix.

5. Alternate adding the flour and the milk a third at a time to the butter mixture.

6. Spread the batter into the pan with a rubber spatula into the prepared pan.

7. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

8. Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack.

9. Loosen the edges of the cake and flip it out of the pan. Cut off and discard (or eat) any brown edges and surfaces for a prettier looking cake pop.

10. Cut the cake into 4 even pieces. Take one piece and rub it between your hands until crumbs form. Or you can use a food processor. Repeat with the remaining pieces.

Vanilla Frosting

3/4 cup unsalted butter at room temperature (96 g)

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3 cups powdered sugar

1-2 tsp. milk

1. Cream together butter and vanilla in the stand mixer with paddle attachment.

2. Add the powdered sugar a little at a time. Scrape down the sides of the bowl between additions.

3. Add a little milk if you want your frosting creamy.


Cake Pops (Makes 50) You don't have to make that many at one time. Just freeze the cake.

Cake crumbs from one recipe of cake (1 box if store bought)

Frosting (3/4 of a container if using store bought)

4 bags of candy melts

vegetable shortening or paramount crystals (I have yet to find these and try them out)

Deep small microwaveable bowl

Lollipop Sticks

Styrofoam

Sprinkles, decorations

Small clear bags (if individually wrapping)

Ribbon (if individually wrapping)

1. Prepare two baking sheets with parchment paper. Mix the cake crumbs and frosting in a large bowl with the back of a large spoon. Use a Tbsp. to scoop even cake balls. Roll into balls or desired shapes. I did ovals for the mummy heads and triangles for the ghosts. Place on parchment. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours or place in freezer until firm.

2. Place candy melts in microwaveable small bowl. Melt on 50% heat for 30 seconds. Stir and repeat until melted. If the candy seems too thick, add a tsp. of vegetable shortening. Mix in well or it will add little shortening blobs to your candy.

3. Take out a few chilled cake balls at a time. Dip a lollipop stick into the candy and stick it into the middle of the cake ball. Dip the whole thing into the candy, rolling it so it covers the entire surface. If it starts to drip, use your finger or a spoon to clean off the stick. Stick into the styrofoam to cool. If your candy starts to crack, leave an opening at the bottom of the stick that's not covered by candy so the cake ball can expand. It's usually a result of the cake balls being rolled too tightly. If your cake balls fall off the stick, you may want to put them in the freezer after you put the sticks in to let them set.

4. After they are all coated in candy, I used dark purple mini chocolate chip sprinkles for the ghost eyes, black round sprinkles for the ghost mouths and multicolor mini chocolate chip sprinkles for the mummy eyes. Place the remaining melted candy into a piping bag fitted with a small round tip. Pipe onto cake pops and stick on decorations. Pipe lines to look like mummy bandages.

5. Let candy cool completely. Wrap in plastic bags and tie with ribbons if giving away as gifts. Store in an airtight container.

Deconstructed Reconstructed Mini Pumpkin Hand Pies

 Canned pumpkin pie filling on the left, pumpkin pastry cream on the right.

I was commissioned to make some mini pumpkin pies for a birthday. Previously I had made apple and peach hand pies. The pies were all baked and cooling on the rack. I tried one and thought it tasted like crust despite the filling oozing out when I made them. I can't serve these I thought. I'll make them better. Luckily I had some extra milk, eggs and canned pumpkin pie filling. I whipped up some pumpkin pastry cream, cut open the pies, piped some in, and tasted them. Now they were creamy and slightly pumpkin flavored but lacked some punch. I mixed together some spices from the cupboard- allspice, powdered ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg. I mixed them into the pastry cream which was no longer orange but brown. "Oh no!" I thought I had put too much in. August tasted it and deemed it delicious. You will not find these on another site. I think they are a cross between hand pies and cream puffs.

Deconstructed Reconstructed Mini Pumpkin Pies
Makes 12

Pie Crust- Makes 2 Crusts (You can use any pie crust recipe)

2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup unsalted butter, (151.2 g) chilled and cut into pieces
1 large egg yolk ( save the egg white to use for a wash)
ice water

Whisk together flour and salt. Add the butter and use pastry blender, two knives, or a fork to blend into coarse crumbs. In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolk with 3 Tbsp. of ice water. Sprinkle the egg mixture over the flour mixture. Sprinkle more ice water one Tbsp. at a time over the flour mixture until it begins to form a ball. Knead the dough on a floured board. Shape into a disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator.

Pumpkin Pie Filling- I bought mine from the store in a can. You can make your own by adding plain pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice and sugar. If adding milk or cream, only add a little or your filling will be runny.

Pumpkin Pie Spice Pastry Cream

1 cup whole milk
3 egg yolks
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/8 cup all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 Tbsp. nutmeg
1/2 Tbsp. ground ginger

1/2 Tbsp. allspice
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Prepare an ice bath. Steam the milk in a small saucepan.   In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, pumpkin, sugar, flour, spices, and cornstarch until smooth.
Slowly add half of the steaming milk to the pumpkin mixture, whisk constantly.  Add the rest of the milk and stir. Pour the whole mixture back into the saucepan.  Heat it for a minute or two stirring constantly with a rubber spatula until the custard reaches 170F on a digital thermometer and is very thick. Remove from the heat and put the saucepan into the ice bath.  Stir in the vanilla extract. Let it cool for 30 minutes in the ice bath. Strain through a sieve. Transfer pastry cream to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap pressing it onto the cream so skin doesn't form. Chill in refrigerator until ready to use.

Making the Mini Pies

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Take the chilled pie dough out of the refrigerator. Roll out on floured surface. The thinner you roll it out, the better it will taste. Use circle cutters to cut out 3 inch circles from the dough. Place the circles on the cookie sheet.

3. Spoon some pumpkin pie filling onto each circle. Cover the filling with another pie dough circle. Use the end of a lollipop stick or a fork and press down on edges of the mini pies to seal the dough.

4. Brush lightly with egg wash. Sprinkle with ginger sugar or coarse sugar. Bake in oven for about 30-45 minutes. They are done when you see the crust turning golden brown.

5. Cool on rack for 5 minutes then remove from baking sheet to cool on wire rack.

6. Split open mini pies with a sharp knife. Fill a piping bag with pumpkin spice pastry cream. Pipe cream into mini pies. Replace tops. Refrigerate. Take out of refrigerator 30 minutes before serving to warm to room temperature.

Chocolate Cheesecake Brownies

Chocolate calls to me at night. A square of chocolate isn't enough this time.  It has to be dark, rich, and sinful. Please- take- the- pan- away- before- I- look- like- Jabba- the- Hutt delicious. Not only do these have bittersweet chocolate, they also have cocoa powder and chocolate chips. And a chocolate cheesecake layer. I must say these are my favorite brownies so far.

Chocolate Cheesecake Brownies

Inspired by evilshenanigans.com

Chocolate Cheesecake Layer:

8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

2 1/2 oz. granulated sugar

1 oz. bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 Tbsp. Dutch processed cocoa powder

2 Tbsp. plain Greek yogurt


Brownie Layer:

1 1/2 oz. unsalted butter

1 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped

7 oz. granulated sugar

2 oz. honey

1 1/2 oz. unsalted butter, melted and cooled

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3 3/4 oz. cake flour (if using all purpose, replace 1/2 Tbsp. flour with cornstarch)

1/2 oz. Dutch processed cocoa powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 oz. semisweet chocolate chips

1. Spray an 8x8 inch pan with nonstick cooking spray. Cut a piece of parchment paper larger than the pan so it will cover the sides.  Cut diagonal lines on the corners so the paper will fit into the pan. Place paper in pan and spray again.

2. Make the cheesecake layer by combining the cream cheese and sugar. Beat until well blended. Mix in melted chocolate. Beat in egg, vanilla, cocoa powder and yogurt. Set aside.

3. Next make the brownie layer. Melt butter and chocolate in a double boiler or in microwave in 20 second intervals. In a large bowl mix together the cooled melted butter and chocolate mixture, sugar, honey, butter, eggs and vanilla. Whisk until smooth. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

4. Sift together flour, cocoa powder and salt. Whisk it into the brownie batter 10 strokes. Fold in chocolate chips.

5. Pour half of the brownie batter into the prepared pan. Pour cheesecake mixture on top. Drizzle other half of brownie batter on top. Use a knife to cut through the batter using wavy lines to create a marble effect.

6. Bake for 40 minutes. When the center is set on top but still wobbly underneath, turn off the oven. Let it sit for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack for another 30 minutes. Cover with foil and refrigerate until cold. Cut into 1 inch (mini) or 2 inch bars using a sharp knife. For clean cuts, dip the knife in hot water and wipe off between cuts.

Mini Cinnamon Rolls with Maple Glaze

Fresh from the oven cinnamon rolls are great on a rainy fall day. Canada is known for their maple syrup. I added some to the glaze. We moved this weekend only two blocks away. We didn't hire movers but carried everything down the street. August and some of his work friends hefted bags, boxes, the t.v. and even a desk. We must have made at least 20 trips back and forth. It rained off and on. The wet leaves stuck to the wheels of the suitcase. We pulled up our hoods since we didn't have extra hands to carry an umbrella. Now it's time for a rest and some breakfast.
These cinnamon rolls were made in the mini muffin pans. If you don't have any, you can just put them in a square or round pan though they do turn out bigger.

Mini Cinnamon Rolls with Maple Glaze
(inspired by  http://www.tastebook.com/recipes/181511-Mini-Cinnamon-Rolls?full_recipe=true)

dough:

1 pkg. active dry yeast ( 1/4 oz. or 2 1/4 tsp.)

1/2 cup warm water

1/2 cup luke warm whole milk, scalded and cooled

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup unsalted butter (75.6 g or 2.7 oz.)

1 tsp. salt

1 egg

3 1/2 to 4 cups all purpose flour

filling:

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted (2 oz. or 57 g)

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. vanilla extract

glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

3 Tbsp. butter, melted

3 Tbsp. maple syrup (the darker the better)

1-2 tsp. milk

1. Add warm water to yeast. Stir to dissolve. Let it sit for 10 minutes. Add milk, sugar, butter, salt, egg and 2 cups of flour. Beat in stand mixer with paddle on medium speed until smooth. Add more flour until the dough is easy to handle.

2. Knead on flour dusted board for 5 minutes. Place in large greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap. Let it rise in a warm place for 1 1/2 hours or until doubled. The dough should stay indented when pressed with a finger.

3. Punch dough down and divide into 4 equal parts. Roll to the thickness of a tortilla.

4. Mix filling ingredients and spread onto dough. Roll up and slice. Spray mini muffin pans with nonstick spray. Place dough in pan. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 20 minutes. I like to turn oven on to lowest setting for a few minutes. Then turn it off and let rolls rise in warm oven. Bake at 375 degrees F for 10 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

5. Mix together glaze ingredients. Add more milk as needed for the glaze to be spreadable. Spread on warm rolls.

Scottish Tablet

A friend of mine tasted my salted caramels and asked me if I'd ever heard of tablet. Tablet? It's a Scottish candy that's sort of crumbly, slightly grainy, melts in your mouth,  harder than fudge and has the flavor of dulce de leche. Tablet is made up of sugar (lots of it), condensed milk (yes more sugar), butter, and water. You need a big pot. In fact, make half of the recipe in one large pot and the other half of the recipe in another large pot. Mine boiled over even though I thought my pot was quite big. And it didn't get hot enough. When it didn't set, I reboiled it in two pots, to 250 degrees F, and it came out great. Be very careful when it boils. I got burned on my hand from bubbling sugar. Wear gloves or mitts!

Scottish Tablet
Inspired by the recipe at http://britishfood.about.com/od/scottishregionalrecipes/r/tablet.htm

500 ml water

225 g unsalted butter, chopped

1.8 kg caster sugar

450 g condensed milk ( I had to buy 2 cans though I only used a little of the second one)

1. Butter a 9x 13 inch baking pan. Line with parchment paper. Cut the parchment paper bigger than the pan and cut the corners at a diagonal so it fits into the pan nicely.

2. Heat water to a simmer then add the butter. Stir until melted. Add the sugar and stir until dissolved. Put on gloves or oven mitts.  Turn the heat up to high and boil for 5 minutes at 250 degrees F. stirring constantly (hard ball stage).

3. Add the condensed milk slowly. Be careful it may splatter. Stir the mixture well then turn down the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. The candy will start to darken a little.

4. When mixture is thickened, remove from heat and pour into a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. Beat for 5 minutes until it is the consistency of caramel sauce. Pour into parchment lined pan.

5. When it is cool but still soft, score into 1 inch squares. Let it sit at room temperature overnight. Break or cut into squares. Wrap in waxed paper or parchment and store in airtight container.

Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies

August loves oatmeal cookies. I've always made a recipe where the oatmeal cookies turn out like mounds rather than flat disks. After trying out this recipe, August said these were the best oatmeal cookies he ever had. I had to put them away after they were cool lest he eat them all. When they came out of the oven they were crispy on the outside and chewy in the center.

Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies
Adapted from  http://allrecipes.com/recipe/the-best-oatmeal-cookies/

3 eggs, beaten

1 cup dried cranberries

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup unsalted butter, softened (226 g)

1 cup brown sugar (I didn't pack it to lessen the sugar a bit)

1 cup granulated sugar

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. baking soda, sifted

2 cups rolled oats

1. Combine dried cranberries, beaten eggs and vanilla in a small bowl. Cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 1 hour.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment.

3. Cream together butter and sugars in a large mixing bowl. In another bowl combine flour, salt, cinnamon, and baking soda. Mix flour mixture into butter mixture. Stir well.

4. Stir in egg mixture. Stir in oats. Dough will be stiff. Drop by Tbsp. fulls onto baking sheet 2 inches apart. They will spread quite a bit. 12 cookies per sheet.

5. Bake 10-15 minutes until golden brown. Remove and cool slightly on cookie sheet. Transfer to wire rack.

Canadian Thanksgiving Apple Pie

Our Canadian Thanksgiving feast was small and simple. Spinach and cheese lasagne and apple pie. I thought I'd take a break from pumpkin pie this year or maybe make it for American Thanksgiving. I used three different types of apples- granny smith, golden delicious, and fuji. The granny smith gave the pie a tartness. The golden delicious melted in your mouth. The fuji was sweet and crunchy. All together I thought they made a great blend. I've also heard honey crisp apples and cortlands are wonderful too. Stay away from the red delicious or you will have a mushy pie. If you do use golden delicious I would only add a little so your pie isn't too soft. For the fat you can use butter, shortening, lard or a combination. I used half butter and half shortening. The butter adds wonderful flavor but makes a dough that's tougher. The shortening makes the dough easier to work with and the crust flaky. My crust came out very flaky and tasty but the dough kept breaking when I made the lattice. I think I needed to add a little bit more water to the dough. Do not add too much or it will become tough.

Apple Pie
Recipe adapted from the Baking at Home with the Culinary Institute of America Cookbook

Double Pie Crust Recipe

2 2/3 cups all purpose flour plus extra for dusting

1 tsp. salt

1/2 cup frozen unsalted butter (113 g)

1/2 cup cold vegetable shortening 

1/2 cup ice water, as needed

1. Stir flour and salt together. Grate the frozen unsalted butter into the flour. Cut the shortening in with a pastry cutter or two knives.

2. Sprinkle water a few Tbsp. at a time onto the flour and rub it in just until it holds together into a ball. It should be moist but not wet. Press dough into a ball on lightly floured work surface.

3. Divide into two balls (one slightly larger than the other) and pat into disk shapes. Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate 20 minutes.

4. Unwrap smaller dough. Sprinkle a little flour on top. Roll out on floured surface with a rolling pin to the thickness of a tortilla 1/8 in thick. Fold into quarters and place in 9 inch pie plate. Unfold and press gently into sides and bottom. Trim overhang to 1 inch.

5. After the filling is prepared, uunwrap larger dough. Sprinkle a little flour on top. Roll out on floured surface with a rolling pin. Cut vents in dough using little shape cutters or use a ravioli wheel to cut into 14  1/2" wide strips if making a lattice top.

Apple Pie Filling

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar (I lessened it a bit)

1/4 cup all purpose flour

3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

6- 7 medium apples, cored and thinly sliced (about 7 cups) I used 1 large fuji, 3 medium golden delicious and 2 medium granny smiths

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, diced

egg wash (1 large egg whisked with 2 Tbsp. water)

1. Mix brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg in a small bowl. Toss apples with lemon juice in a large bowl. Sprinkle sugar mixture on apples and toss to coat the slices. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (if using a glass pie plate, lessen heat by 25 F)

2. Scoop apples into the dough lined pan and make a mound where it's higher in the center. Dot the top with small pieces of butter. Brush the rim with egg wash. Prepare the top pie dough. Transfer the dough onto the apples and crimp the sides to seal. If using a lattice, lay the strips in a weave pattern. Brush with egg wash.

3. Place the pie on a baking sheet. This is so the drips do not cause a fire in your oven. Bake for 15 minutes at 425 degrees F then turn the heat down to 350 degrees F. Bake for 40-45 minutes rotating if necessary for even browning. Test apples with a fork. It is ready when apples are tender. Remove and cool on wire rack for 20 minutes so the filling thickens.